Principality of Antioch

The Principality of Antioch was a Levantine crusader state which existed from 1098 to 1268, with Antioch serving as its capital. It was founded after the Norman-Italian prince Bohemond of Taranto conquered Antioch from the Seljuk Turks during the First Crusade, and he proclaimed himself "Prince of Antioch". Following Bohemond's capture in a battle with the Danishmends in 1100, his nephew Tancred of Galilee became regent, and Tancred seized Tarsus and Latakia from the Byzantine Empire. However, following the 1104 Battle of Harran, the newly-captured territories were lost upon Baldwin II of Edessa's capture. In 1108, Bohemond was defeated by the Byzantines at Dyrrhachium while leading an invasion of Byzantine Greece from Italy, and he was forced to make Antioch a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire following his death. Tancred died in 1112, leading to Bohemond II of Antioch inheriting the principality, with Roger of Salerno becoming his regent, repelling a Seljuk attack in 1113, and being slain at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis in 1119, after which Antioch became a vassal state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. During the 1130s, Raymond of Poitiers attacked Byzantine lands in Cilicia, but, in 1138, the Byzantines attacked Antioch and forced Raymond to swear fealty to Emperor John II of Byzantium. Following the fall of Edessa in 1144, the Saracens went on to attack Antioch, and much of the principality's eastern lands were lost in the ensuing Second Crusade. From 1159 to 1180, Antioch was again made a vassal of Byzantium, providing troops for an attack on the Seljuks in 1176 in exchange for protection against the Seljuk prince Nur ad-Din. Following the 1164 Battle of Harim, the Antioch-Aleppo border was fixed at the Orontes River. Emperor Manuel I of Byzantium's death in 1180 ended the Byzantine protection of Antioch, but Antioch survived Saladin's assault on the Crusader states in 1187 and did not participate in the Third Crusade of the 1190s. Antioch continued to abstain from involvement in the Crusades for decades, instead being torn apart by internal power struggles. In 1254, Bohemond VI of Antioch married an Armenian princess to end Antioch's rivalry with Armenian Cilicia, but, by this point, Armenia was stronger than Antioch. In 1260, Antioch became a tributary state of the Mongol Empire at the behest of King Hethum I of Armenia. Bohemond VI and Hethum later went on to capture Aleppo and Damascus from the Muslims, but, following the Mongol defeat at the Battle of Ain Jalut, the Mamelukes of Egypt (led by Baibars) focused on conquering Antioch. In 1268, Antioch and the rest of northern Syria was conquered by Baibars' army, destroying the Principality of Antioch.